40: 027: Penny unhappy?
Make him even more unhappy!_2 40: 027: Penny unhappy?
Make him even more unhappy!_2 This time, Roger was invited by Nike to Miami for a vacation and to discuss sneaker contract matters.
Nike had certainly caught wind that their supreme deity might be leaving.
So this summer, they launched an aggressive campaign to snatch up some highly promising rookies, and Stern wasn’t the only one looking for Jordan’s successor.
Just a day ago, Nike had snatched Penny Hardaway from Converse.
Converse had offered Penny a contract worth seven million, attempting to dazzle the young player with a string of zeros at the end of the check.
But Penny outright refused Converse because Nike had offered him more than double the price—fifteen million for five years.
Last year, Nike let Reebok snatch Shaq, making many brands think Nike had gone timid.
But in reality, Shaq didn’t matter to Nike.
After all, everyone knows that guards sell sneakers.
And indeed, when it came to battling over guards, Nike was relentless.
Having grown accustomed to hearing about the GOAT signing a seven-year, ninety-million dollar sneaker deal at age 18, Roger wasn’t initially shocked by the numbers.
But the GOAT’s contract happened ten years later; you can’t just casually make cross-era comparisons.
Ten years earlier, Jabbar’s sneaker contract was only a hundred thousand a year.
Ten years earlier, Jordan signing a five-year, two and a half million dollar sneaker contract with Nike was already considered crazy.
At the 1993 timestamp, a three million dollar annual sneaker contract was astronomical, as many NBA stars didn’t even make three million a year.
While securing Hardaway, Nike also initiated a pursuit of Roger.
They were clear that Roger and Hardaway were the two best guards in the draft, also the two most hyped successors to Jordan.
Wealthy and bold, Nike didn’t plan to choose between the two; the safest way was to bag them both.
After staying in a luxurious hotel for one night, the next day at noon, a Nike representative invited Roger to the hotel’s conference room.
The negotiator was very amiable, “Did you sleep well last night in Miami?”
“Very well, I rarely had the chance to see the ocean before,” Roger responded amicably.
“Your happiness is most important.
In fact, our goal is to make your career as fantastic as last night.”
In the subsequent period, the Nike representative detailed the personal branding plan they had prepared for Roger, explaining how they would help enhance his fame and commercial value.
In the end, predictably, they brought up Jordan: “We can replicate Michael’s success with you; we have the capability!”
Most people, upon hearing this, would find themselves unable to resist the urge to rush and sign the contract.
But Roger and Eric were unmoved.
All the enticing things Nike’s representative had mentioned could be categorized as pie in the sky.
The contract amount was what mattered most.
Before talking money, you shouldn’t believe a word of what the other party says.
Eric came because the Nike representative had promised a hefty contract for Roger.
In Eric’s understanding, “hefty” meant at least on par with Penny.
But when the Nike representative handed over the contract, Eric was stunned.
“Five years, ten million, what’s going on?” Eric angrily put down the contract.
“This…” The Nike representative hadn’t expected this kind of reaction.
“Isn’t ten million for five years a lot for a high school player?”
“This is indeed the most expensive endorsement contract for a high school player in history,” the Nike representative said with a smile.
Eric nodded in agreement, “You are right; this is the most expensive high school player endorsement contract in history.
But Roger, he’s an NBA player, I thought our price would at least match Anfernee’s, and you and I both know, Roger is no worse than him.”
Eric absolutely couldn’t accept this contract because it would create an impression that “Penny is above Roger.”
Once such an impression is formed, it becomes hard to change.
“Are you saying, at least fifteen million for five years?” the Nike representative asked cautiously.
“Sorry, sir, I’ll make a call right away.”
$15 million over 5 years clearly exceeded the authority of that negotiator.
About 5 minutes later, he came back with a smile, “The German headquarters is willing to raise the offer to $13 million.”
Eric laughed in frustration, “To save $2 million, give up on a rising star?”
“It’s not like that, hahaha.”
“Then what’s the deal?
The difference between $13 million and $15 million isn’t huge, so let’s not make it significant, okay?”
Embarrassed, the Nike representative said, “Headquarters mentioned that if we sign Penny to the same contract value…
Penny will be unhappy.”
Good gracious, Roger exclaimed on the side.
He truly hadn’t expected to be the one to hear that statement in history.
Eric and Roger felt there was no need to negotiate further as they weren’t there to serve as a backdrop for Hardaway at Nike.
The next day, Scottie Pippen once again saw a series of heart-wrenching news.
Roger had shockingly joined the Reebok family for $20 million over 5 years!
If Penny is unhappy, then let him be!
However, now Pippen was even more unhappy than Penny.
He could hardly believe his own eyes; his jealousy was about to explode.
Pippen had grown up poor, but he hadn’t expected to still feel impoverished after playing in the NBA.
In fact, of the $20 million that Roger signed with Reebok, only $15 million was guaranteed.
The remaining $5 million would be awards based on either three All-Star first-team selections in five years, two selections to the best lineup, or one MVP within the period, under any one of these three conditions.
Reebok’s decision was understandable as Roger was a higher risk high school player; they couldn’t bet everything on him.
Even excluding the $5 million incentive clause, the value of this shoe contract was still astounding.
After signing the deal, Reebok deliberately released a promotional poster, which was changed overnight at all major stores.
The poster showed Roger in Reebok attire, carrying a bag of money, and the line below read, “Whether you’re happy or not, I’ll easily pack up all the Pennies!”
Stern, watching the two competitors so happy, was very pleased.
He planned to continue to push hard from behind!
So, in the summer of 1993, the fans were sad, excited, expecting.
The headlines in the newspapers were changing daily, sketching out the full picture of the summer.
Michael Jordan is seriously considering retirement!
— “The New York Times”.
Brian Hill becomes the new coach of the Magic Team, are Orlando’s twin towers ready?
— “Orlando Sentinel”.
The Grand Teuton Schrempf and Kendall Gill join Seattle, rough Karl directly aims for the finals.
— “Seattle Post-Intelligencer”.
$20 million over 5 years, Roger temporarily ahead of Penny this offseason, let’s see what happens next season!
— “Sports Illustrated”.
However, the report Roger was looking at read as follows:
Listen, I don’t want to discuss that high school kid anymore.
I’ve seen his videos; he shakes his opponents, he scores crazily, he does what he wants, so what?
His opponents are just high school kids too!
I won’t hypocritically praise him, nor will I get along with him easily.
If he can’t handle that, he’d better go back to school because cowards don’t deserve to share in the spoils of champions.
We are a championship team, and naturally, we’ll hold him to the standards of a championship team.
— Scottie Pippen discussed Roger in “ESPN” magazine.
Roger put down the “ESPN” magazine in his hands, not really caring what Pippen had said.
Entering the NBA was just the beginning; he still had to establish himself there.
With Jordan likely to retire as originally planned, Roger knew his chance to establish himself was right in front of him.
No one, including Scottie Pippen, could stop Roger from seizing his opportunity!